Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Renee at It’s Book Talk. Throwback Thursday was designed as an opportunity to share old favorites as well as older books in our TBR. As I started reviewing on Goodreads long before I started my blog, it seemed a great way of sharing my earlier reviews (which I hope have improved since the early days).

So this week I’m revisiting The Kill by Jane Casey,  first reviewed in June 2014.

Their job is to investigate crime – not become the victims…

A killer is terrorising London but this time the police are the targets. Urgently re-assigned to investigate a series of brutal attacks on fellow officers, Maeve Kerrigan and her boss Josh Derwent have little idea what motivates the killer’s fury against the force.
But they know it will only be a matter of time before the killer strikes again.

My Review

The Kill sees a welcome return to DC Maeve Kerrigan along with her complicated private life and public relationships with her immediate superiors, DI Josh Derwent and Superintendent Godley. For lovers of the Maeve Kerrigan series you won’t be disappointed and if you’re new to this author, I urge you to go back and start with the first book, The Burning. While the books can be read as a standalone story, there are continuing themes between titles so it would be a shame to spoil the plots by reading retrospectively.

In this installment Kerrigan and Derwent are involved in a series of murders that personally impact on them (in ways I have no intention of revealing)when someone starts killing police officers. As with all of her previous book, Casey has the ability to draw you in from the beginning, not only with a compelling crime plot, that you need to see resolved, but also with her deftly drawn characters. Maeve Kerrigan and Josh Derwent are a great team, though on paper you would not expect it to be so. Maeve is the only female detective on the team and is subject to stereotypical sexist banter from her colleagues, though she is well capable of holding her own due to her undoubted ability and a nice line in finely honed clever comments. She is also vulnerable and fallible which makes her a realistic and sympathetic character. Derwent meanwhile is a fine example of unreconstructed man, with a sexist approach that would have most women in a rage. Despite this, there is a chemistry between them that works, not least because in the most unexpected moments Derwent has the ability to throw you off guard by producing a caring response or sympathetic phrase you would not believe him capable of. While there is jokey banter, tension and disagreements there is also an underlying respect (and I feel some festering sexual attraction).

I have no hesitation in recommending The Kill, the plot was satisfying and as the tension cranked up towards the end, really merited the description “pageturner”. My only disappointment is that I now need to wait for the next in the series to follow-up unresolved issues.

I received an e copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.